The present invention relates to a kinetic energy generating mechanism, and more particularly to a kinetic energy generating mechanism that is mounted on a vehicle and generates kinetic energy to move the vehicle forward when a user walks or runs on an actuating belt of the mechanism.
A conventional bicycle of prior art normally found in the market is moved forward through circular motions of two pedals thereof actuated by a cyclist""s two feet. That is, a force applied by the cyclist""s two feet on the pedals is converted into a kinetic energy to move the bicycle forward. Basically, such conventional kinetic energy generating mechanism employed on the bicycle has three major drawbacks: (a) the force applied by the cyclist""s two feet is transferred to the pedals and converted into kinetic energy to move the bicycle forward only when the pedals are located at positions between 90 degrees and 270 degrees in the circular motion, as shown in FIG. 1; (b) the pedals transfer the applied force in a high efficiency of transmission only when they are located at positions between 45 degrees and 315 degrees, as shown in FIG. 2; and (c) the cyclist usually sits on a saddle of the bicycle to rotate the pedals with two feet and can therefore apply only a rather small force on the pedals to drive the bicycle forward. Generally speaking, the force that can be applied by the two feet is only about a quarter of the cyclist""s weight.
The inventor has conducted many researches on the basic principle for moving a vehicle forward and found from the research results that when a vehicle provides at a top with an inclined plane containing an angle xcex8 between it and the ground surface and has wheels mounted to a horizontal bottom thereof, as shown in FIG. 3, a total force applied by a user walking or running on the inclined plane of the vehicle includes the user""s weight and a kinetic force generated by the user through walking or running on the inclined plane. Given that the total applied force is F and according to the kinetics, F can be decomposed into two applied forces A and B. The applied force A has a magnitude of Fxc3x97sin(xcex8), and the applied force B has a magnitude of Fxc3x97cos(xcex8). The applied force A would cause the user to slip downward on the inclined plane on the vehicle. With a properly designed kinetic energy generating mechanism, the applied force A could be converted into a kinetic energy to move the vehicle forward. The applied force B is mainly applied on the vehicle and can be decomposed into two applied forces C and D. The applied force C has a magnitude of Fxc3x97cos(xcex8)xc3x97sin(xcex8), while the applied force D has a magnitude of Fxc3x97cos(xcex8)2. The applied force C directly moves the vehicle forward, and the applied force D is absorbed by the ground via the wheels of the vehicle.
In conclusion, the vehicle is moved forward by a total kinetic energy from the applied forces A and C, that is, a force having a magnitude of Fxc3x97sin(xcex8)xc3x97(1+cos(xcex8)). When the angle xcex8 is 30 degrees, the total kinetic energy moving the vehicle forward is about 0.9330xc3x97F, and when the angle xcex8 is 45 degrees, the total kinetic energy moving the vehicle forward is about 1.2071xc3x97F. In other words, when a user of 60 kgs in weight walks or runs on the inclined plane having an inclination angle xcex8 of 30 degrees, a force larger than 55.98 kgs would be applied on the vehicle to move the same forward; and when a user of 60 kgs in weight walks or runs on the inclined plane having an inclination angle xcex8 of 45 degrees, a force larger than 72.426 kgs would be applied on the vehicle to move the same forward.
The above-mentioned applied force capable of moving the vehicle forward is about four times as large as the applied force that could be applied by the cyclist on the pedals to move the bicycle forward. Moreover, unlike the kinetic energy generating mechanism for the conventional bicycle, that is, the two pedals, which is in a low-efficiency, attenuated, or idle state in almost one half of the action period thereof, the above-mentioned applied force for moving the vehicle forward can always be maintained at stable magnitude and transmission efficiency. In brief, it is found by the inventor a properly designed kinetic energy generating mechanism could generate kinetic energy for moving a vehicle forward at least eight times as large as that could be generated with the conventional bicycle.
Therefore, it would be desirable to develop a kinetic energy generating mechanism based on the above-described principle to generate relatively high kinetic energy to move a vehicle forward with reduced efforts made by a user.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide a kinetic energy generating mechanism that is mounted on a vehicle and uses force applied by a user walking or running on an actuating belt of the mechanism to generate kinetic energy sufficient for moving the vehicle forward. Since all the force applied by the user is converted into the kinetic energy, the vehicle can be easily moved forward with reduced efforts made by the user.